A Rising Tide of Attention to the Early Childhood Workforce: Releasing the Early Childhood Career Pathway Statement

Linda K. Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Early Childhood Development (ECD) for the Administration for Children and Families

We are in the midst of a rising tide of attention to the early childhood workforce, and it’s long overdue. Over the past year, we have seen many reports focusing on the importance of those working with children from birth to kindergarten, as well the professionalization of this workforce, including appropriate compensation.

Last year, the Institute of Medicine released its expert consensus report, Transforming the Workforce for Children from Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Framework . That report outlined the sophisticated knowledge of child development and learning required for working with young children. It also specified a series of actions to support the competencies of early educators and a comprehensive, functioning system of professional development to promote a high-quality, well-compensated workforce across child care, Head Start, and school sponsored programs.

ACF is pleased to announce a new Policy Statement on Early Childhood Career Pathways as part of our focus on elevating the early childhood workforce in policy and practice. This policy paper focuses on lead teachers, with state and local recommendations for creating a sequence of stackable, portable credentials that reflect the sophisticated science of working with young children, combined with the supports educators need to advance their career.

This complements the report (PDF) released in conjunction with the White House State of Women Summit, on compensation across the early childhood workforce that shows the remarkably inequitable and, low compensation of early educators by setting. In every state, the average/median wage for a child care teacher was below the eligibility cut-off for SNAP.

The policy statement joins two other resources we’ve developed. Last month, we published a joint report with the Department of Education on Credentialing in the Early Care and Education Field (PDF) highlighting the efforts of four states. Earlier this year, we unveiled Early Educator Central – a source for online coursework and tools for states in designing early childhood professional development systems, such as a cost analysis tool and sample articulation agreements. Look for more publications and tools on the new National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning . All of this work leads to the same conclusions. Our workforce has a critical role in the current and future success of our nation. But our workforce is also inadequately supported and compensated. Wide inequities remain in who has access to those supports to be a great educator and to continue working with children and families.

Will this rising tide of attention to early childhood educators lift all boats? Each year is critical to our children, so let’s use this year to put into action those recommendations and close the gaps for early childhood educators.